Propaganda at work

An article caught my eye today. Salmonella outbreaks have been linked to hipsters keeping backyard chickens.

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I must say that I was shocked and appalled to read this. I am NOT a hipster! Am I? What IS a hipster anyway? Is it like hip waders?

But I digress, salmonella linked to backyard chickens. Concerning. I wouldn't have expected it really. Apparently a 2012 salmonella outbreak that hit 195 people in 27 states is the telltale sign. How could this be? So I go and look.

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Turns out there really was an outbreak linked to backyard flocks. But wait! What's this?

One of the 2012 outbreaks was linked by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to mail-order chicks and ducks from Mt. Healthy Hatchery in Ohio,. Three different strains of Salmonella: Salmonella Infantis, Salmonella Newport, and Salmonella Lille sickened 195 people. One-third of the case patients required hospitalization. Two people died. The outbreak affected residents in 27 states.

So these "backyard flocks" had salmonella because they came from a commercial source! What's the message? Don't keep your own birds because the industry can't provide clean ones?

Before I was puzzled. Now I'm just pi$$ed.

People need to wash their hands! Do you know how many people don't wash their hands after going to the bathroom? Something like half....

My sister had a job studying this and found that rates varied slightly depending on what was available for drying one's hands. The hand dryer resulted in the fewest people washing their hands. Paper towel resulted in a big uptick in hand washing, but greater cost of garbage removal, cleanup and plumbing costs for unplugging toilets.

The best value are those fabric roller towels (less clean up and unplugging toilets) but it isn't easy to keep on top of the replacement.

I notice all the Tim Hortons have taken out their hand dryers or at least added paper towels again.

Sort of off topic but a good rant for me....

After dealing with your chickens, with poop of any kind WASH YOUR HANDS.

It all depends on the spin the reporters plan to put on the news they share, isn't it? You can make statistics say whatever you want, can't you?

So the first article is MSN. And what might be their political leaning?

Yep, all you have to do is click on the source at the bottom of the MSN article and see it is an entirely different story!

A crazy old retired American Military man told me: "Stop listening to what the news tells you, and look into what they don't."

The news and media conditions the masses for a certain outlook on the world. It breeds fear and hate and panic and, subsequently, trust in the government as it's their 'job and obligation' to take care of you.

I noticed it last night even. Moose and I have gotten into the new show on A and E called Bates Motel, do you watch this? There were multiple comments made about how its a town full of organic, back yard, hippie, tree loving, nature kissing, glue sniffing heffalumps and how are they all millionaires; how suspicious! Just little things like that sink into the minds of people. Many, if not most people, are just sheep to media influences, and we all know there's kids who are far too young to be watching that show watching it. They hear these things and it does stick.

Thanks for sharing this though, this is interesting. I'm considering starting an edgy local newspaper and I would like to include things exactly like this in it.

Having started out my adult life studying journalism and working in media for a while, and now working in a "psychology" based profession, I see all the time how media and the manipulators of media use psychology to sway the masses. I am not a conspiracy guy, I think most of the manipulation is very narrow in its purpose, but the overall result is the fostering of dependance and using fear as a motivator. We now have a society of people choosing to not die rather than to live life to the fullest. The ability to question and look at motives (which is where common sense comes from, in part) does not exist for many of our fellow man. It tends to make us into sheep ready for the slaughter.

bckev wrote:We now have a society of people choosing to not die rather than to live life to the fullest.

Powerful.

I always think that the people pushing the organic, green, hipster/hippy side of things have their own brand of propaganda and their own political/economic agenda.

Basically, don't believe anything you read. Ever.

People say believe half of what you see
Son, and none of what you hear
But I can't help bein confused
If it's true, please tell me dear...

Oooohhh, I heard it through the grapevine.

-Marvin Gaye-

uno wrote:People say believe half of what you see
Son, and none of what you hear
But I can't help bein confused
If it's true, please tell me dear...

Oooohhh, I heard it through the grapevine.

-Marvin Gaye-

*High pitched follow-up* Grapevine!!!!!